1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an adjustable, insertable, attachable and semi-flexible shelf to store items securely within a compartment such as portable coolers, top opening chest freezers, or portable storage containers.
2. Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98
With the advent and growth of outdoor recreation in modern society and added leisure time, the popularity of portable cooled storage compartment devices, otherwise known as portable or compact coolers or ice chests, has increased. The quality of the outdoor recreational experience is often enhanced by easy access to foodstuffs and beverages. To minimize deterioration in foodstuffs and add to the attraction of beverages, it is important that outdoor recreation enthusiasts have access to cold storage. Coolers or ice chests are portable storage compartments which can receive blocks or cubes of ice to maintain cooling of the beverages and foodstuffs stored within during the outings.
The vast majority of these cooler devices have the shortcoming that the foodstuffs can only be kept cold by combining them with the ice placed within the cooler. Typically, portable coolers have just one compartment in which to place both the ice and the foodstuffs or beverages. After a relatively short period of time of usage and storage in outdoor environments, this ice begins to melt causing water to begin forming within the cooler compartment. This melting effect tends to be more prevalent during outdoor recreation as these coolers are typically used in long outdoor trips in the summer and generally warmer weather. The constant opening of the cooler top or opening only increases this process since the cold air is released and the ice is exposed to the warmer outside air. The melting of the ice often has damaging and ruinous effects on the foodstuffs and creates an untidy situation within the cooler. Food and food packages and containers stored within the cooler can easily get wet from the melting of the ice inside of the cooler. Pre-packaged food containers often use cardboard and other materials which are not impervious to water and can result in the contents being soaked in water. Outdoor enthusiasts often use plastic wrap material, paper bags and sandwich bags to wrap up sandwiches and other foods. These covering materials can easily get wet soaking the foods inside, or they can open or unravel resulting in wet and ruined foodstuffs.
Portable coolers are also routinely used by fishermen to store fishing bait and keep it cold during fishing trips. These trips are usually of an extended duration in which the bait must be kept cold to avoid spoilage. Bait in a cooler is typically kept stored in same compartment as the loose ice and subject to the same hazards of getting wet and damaged from water from the melting ice as foodstuffs and foods in containers.
Portable coolers are typically designed to have a large open compartment without any shelves or sub-compartments or other means of segregating items. Due to this typical design, the items within portable coolers can also be difficult to locate and access. This is even more difficult due to the ice covering items. The user frequently has to reach into ice to find and retrieve an item. Once the ice melts, the user has to reach into water to find and retrieve items. It is these problems which are addressed by the present invention.
It has already been recognized that there is a need for the separation of certain food stuffs from the ice used in portable cooling device compartments. It is also known there is a need for better organization of items stored within coolers to allow for better viewing, separation of items and access to items. Examples of known devices in this area include designs of insertable compartments, trays, racks, chambers, and grids to be placed within portable coolers to separate ice and foodstuffs. Examples of such known devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,307,581 to Reid, U.S. Pat. No. 4,424,687 to Morgan, U.S. Pat. No. 4,515,421 to Steffes, U.S. Pat. No. 4,551,988 to Petrantoni, U.S. Pat. No. 4,565,074 to Morgan, U.S. Pat. No. 4,916,923 to Adams, U.S. Pat. No. 5,052,184 to Jarvis, U.S. Pat. No. 5,052,185 to Spahr, U.S. Pat. No. 5,437,165 to White, U.S. Pat. No. 5,605,056 to Brown, U.S. Pat. No. 5,845,515 to Nelson, U.S. Pat. No. 6,050,663 to Schoellmann, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,105,654 to Martel. Typically, these devices consist of internal compartments, chambers, trays and racks which are inserted into compartments. These devices are not built-in to the cooler and are typically removable and adjustable, yet lack the flexibility, functionality and lightness of material of the insertable and semi-flexible shelf apparatus.
Other examples of known prior art include portable coolers designed with many of the above features built-in to the cooler. Examples of such known devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,524,761 to Wayman, U.S. Pat. No. 5,671,611 to Quigley, U.S. Pat. No. 5,816,433 to Higgins, U.S. Pat. No. 6,349,559 to Hasanovic, U.S. Pat. No. 6,782,711 to Abfalter, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,966,450 to Askew. These devices are all designed to separate ice from foodstuffs, but they are all lacking in some manner, primarily that they are not removable, flexible and adjustable in any manner. They also do not make as much use of the limited space within the cooler as compared to the insertable semi-flexible shelf apparatus. These devices also cannot be applied to existing coolers.
It has also been recognized that there is a need to have fishing bait used for fishing activities kept cooled and stored within portable coolers and to keep this bait separated from the ice and the water resulting from melted ice. Examples of such known devices include U.S. Pat. No. 5,605,056 to Brown and Starling, U.S. Pat. No. 5,931,019 to White, and D601,654 to Sykes. These devices employ solid trays to be placed within the cooler compartments with holes to provide cold air to keep the bait cold. However, these trays are not flexible, do not allow as much cold air penetration and cannot be seen through as compared to the insertable semi-flexible shelf apparatus.
It would be particularly useful to develop a device that can be placed inside of portable coolers that will allow for separation of food items and fishing bait from the ice needed to keep these items cool. This device should help to keep the foodstuffs and bait dry from the melting ice and water, which forms in the cooler compartment. It should also provide for easy access to these items and keep them separated from the ice or cooling materials to make them easier to find and retrieve. It should be lightweight so that it doesn't affect the user's ability to carry the portable cooler for any duration. Furthermore, it would be useful for this device to be flexible and adjustable within the cooler so that the user has the most variation in placement of the stored items as they determine and fit a wide variety of sizes currently sold in various retail outlets to the consumer.
Additionally, with the advent of food storage, especially long-term storage of perishable food items, the popularity of refrigerated storage compartments, or freezers, has increased. These units allow for the longer term storage of foods such as meats, vegetables, and other foodstuffs which would perish if stored for long periods in a refrigerator. Often these units are arranged in a top down storage configuration where foods are stored on top of each other horizontally. These units are known as top opening chest freezers or drop-in freezers. Some refrigerators in commercial settings and in boats have this top opening configuration as well.
The top opening chest freezer or refrigerator is opened by raising the top door and reaching in and down to place or remove food items. Frequent door openings to either put objects inside, take them out, or merely to view and find the items inside prior to taking any action causes a major loss of coldness inside the freezer causing food items to be exposed to higher temperatures causing loss of coldness. This condition can also lead to increased energy expenditure and higher energy costs as the generator units of freezers have to activate on a more frequent basis to maintain freezing temperatures. This same condition of loss of cold air from frequent door openings is also well known to be a problem facing users of household refrigerators. Foodstuffs within these drop-in freezers are also often stacked or piled vertically with limited ability to organize or find certain foods. This can make it difficult to find desired objects or even to be able to see what is inside the freezer. Thus, users have to keep pulling out objects to find the ones they want, all the while losing precious cold air from the freezer, resulting in higher energy usage.
It has already been recognized that there is a need for better organization of storage of items within freezers and refrigerators in many different settings to improve the viewing, locating and retrieval of food items. Examples of known devices in this area include racks and trays within freezers to enable organization and placement of objects. Examples of such known devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,083,836 to Bussemer, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,138,175 to Tattershall. These devices are typically made of metal or solid material and inserted within the freezer cabinet. They do not have the flexibility and ease of use of the insertable, semi-flexible shelf apparatus.
It would be particularly useful to develop a device that would be able to retain items within a refrigerated or frozen cabinet such as with household top chest or drop-in freezers or refrigerators to enable better access to some items and keep certain items such as foodstuffs and food containers separate and easy to view, find, and access to place or remove as needed. The more frequently a freezer door or cooler cover is opened, the greater the loss of cold air. This leads to higher temperatures in the internal storage area, which results in higher energy use required to maintain adequate coldness.
Additionally, in recent years, the popularity of portable storage devices, such as plastic, stackable storage bin containers, has become more widespread. These devices are frequently used by people who have limited storage capabilities in their homes, and by people who frequently need to move or haul items from one place to another. These units typically take the shape of large rectangular bins, with a width and depth of a few feet, providing for substantial storage capability while still allowing easy portability by one person in transit. As with portable coolers or drop-in freezers, the functional limitation of these containers primarily involves the lack of ability to separate and segregate items for effective viewing, storage and retrieval of items. Typically within these containers, items are loose and have a tendency to become mixed together, trapped under and within other objects, and become difficult to locate and retrieve. This becomes more pronounced when it comes to small or more valuable items which can be even harder to find and more difficult to replace. Other items that are more fragile and breakable can be protected from possible damage from excessive movement within or by contact with other materials within the compartment. This tendency to lose items within compartments is increased by the frequency of movement since these units are designed to be portable. An attachable, insertable and flexible shelf allows for retention, segregation, and easy viewing and retrieval of certain objects and items within these types of containers.
It has already been recognized that there is a need for improving the organization of storage of items within portable storage containers. Examples of known devices in this area include storage compartments with certain tray and shelf components built-in. Examples of such known devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,011,013 to Meisner, U.S. Pat. No. 5,123,564 to Hobson, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,874,650 to Welsh. These devices are compartments that have some tray and shelf features built-in, but they are not separate insertable or attachable trays that can be used with the majority of existing storage containers.
It would be particularly useful to develop a device that would be able to retain items within a portable storage compartment to enable better viewing of and access to certain loose items, especially items that are small, fragile, breakable, and more valuable. It would be additionally useful if this device was constructed of lightweight flexible material and could be easily insertable and attachable within portable storage containers and also easily removable.